Crimson, fear and pain
by Tralillian
Summary: Set after the events of Thor: Dark World. Loki has been ruling Asgard in Odin's form, keeping the Allfather in an extended Odinsleep whilst Thor lives in Midgard. Until one day Loki vanishes and his magic is undone. Releasing Odin and allowing him to regain the throne. What happened to Loki? Warnings:Torture, blood


Loki absently wondered how long he had been here. It had been awhile… long enough for him to lose track of the time anyway. He had been in a lot of difficult situations, some enough to almost break him…. Sometimes he wondered if they had. There had been so many times throughout his childhood… then there was that time after he fell off the Bifrost… He shook his head slightly using the pain to clear his mind of those memories. He didn't want to dwell on those times.

He dragged himself into a sitting position. He was being given a welcome respite from the constant torture he had endured for the last…. Week? Month? Who knows how long it would be before his captor recommenced his torture. He had to put this time to good use and think of a way to get himself out of here. There would be no-one looking for him… which was both good and… well bad… By now Odin would have awoken from his extended Odin-sleep and retaken the throne. He had probably contacted Thor as well, informing him of the fact that he was in fact alive. Most likely Asgardians would kill Loki on sight and not even bother to imprison him… especially now that Mother was dead… Loki gritted his teeth. His mind seemed to be determined to wander into unpleasant territory, perhaps it was the aftereffects of having his magic sealed and being tortured continuously. He gave a wry smile at the thought… it was most likely. After all his magic was directly linked to his health, so who would know what the effects of sealing his powers for so long.

He looked around the small cell. If he could just get the collar that was restricting his powers off then he could muster enough power to transport himself off-world. The trouble was that the collar couldn't be removed without the correct release spell... which he knew but couldn't perform with the collar on. So he had to both find and convince someone else with the power to release him, or find another way of removing the collar. Considering this was an abandoned planet that very few people ever came to… his chances of finding someone were minimal at best. So that left only one other option… finding another way to remove a spell collar. Loki didn't like his chances at either, spell collars were specifically designed to be only removed by the correct magic.

He reached up and touched the collar that was fastened just a little too tight around his neck. Just maybe he could summon enough magic to release the collar. The question would be whether he could withstand the backlash of the spell. There wasn't really that much of an argument he decided. If he tried and failed he would be in the exact same position as if he didn't try. He had failed before but this time he wasn't being tortured. He closed his eyes and summoned his magic immediately channelling it into the spell required to release the collar. His mind exploded with pain and he blacked out.

With a groan Loki came conscious, his head throbbing with the worst headache he'd ever experienced. So he couldn't remove the collar himself. That left playing along with his captor until he let his guard down… the problem was Loki didn't even know what he wanted. It could be rather difficult to agree with or cooperate with him if he didn't even say what he wanted. Loki assumed he had some reason for capturing him… he went to all the trouble of disabling his powers and transporting him from Asgard to this forgotten little planet. Loki guessed he'd find out eventually, he'd rather sooner than later… because honestly being tortured wasn't any fun. He'd had enough experience of that already. Really the only thing that Loki had been able to determine was that his captor was an Elthen, from a tiny world with particularly powerful magic users.

He sighed and looked around the small stone room he was being held in. He wondered why the Elthen had chosen this realm to take him, he wondered if it mattered. The last time he had been here was… a few thousand years ago. A slight smile tugged at his lips. That had been the first time he had transported anyone off-world. Not that he'd seen much of the world considering he had collapsed almost straight away. Having never transported anyone between worlds, transporting five people at once plus himself, wasn't necessarily his best idea. Thor had been rather mad, calling him a coward for running away from a fight. His smile widened, Thor had been quite… well… startled finding himself in a completely different, unfamiliar world.

Loki had to admit his chances of getting out of this looked pretty dismal, not that he would give up. He'd find a way to survive, he always had. He would just have to put up with the pain and humiliation a while longer. He might be weak and small, but he was a survivor. He would find a way through this.

Loki coughed, blood splattering on the stone floor. The Elthen smirked "Now isn't this fun my dear little prince. I really do wish I could extend our time together but I do have a deadline to achieve. I suppose I have taken my time and you definitely are starting to look…. Well… worn out, tired, exhausted. So as much as it pains me… I must finish this up today." Loki gasped, his breath rattling as the Elthen stabbed the short blade he had been using to slice his stomach into a sticky red masterpiece. "You do have a high pain tolerance. I'll give you that. It has vastly improved my enjoyment of our time together. But now I think it is time to break you. My little prince, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure you are tired of all this playing around and would love for me to get to the point."

Loki slumped to the cold floor of the old castle. He coughed, splattering blood on the stones beneath him. The tall Elthen kicked him, sending him across the floor to slam into the wall. Loki took a painful rattling breath before dragging himself into a sitting position, he tried to muster what dignity and pride he could. "Is that the best you can do?" He smiled "Do you really think you can…" He broke off as a red glow surrounded him, rendering him unable to move. Elthenian magic… it was powerful, though it was nothing Loki couldn't counter if he had been able to use his powers.

The Elthen slowly strode toward him, a satisfied smirk at Loki's condition. The fallen god was slumped against the cold stone wall of the torture room. His eyes was glazed with pain and even though his eyes were defiant and proud the Elthen could feel his fear… it was so delicious...to feel the pain and fear, to slowly crack the composure of such a strong being… well lets just say it was his favourite perk of being a Collector. The god was completely helpless, his powers bound and his body far too weak to even try to escape. He had had so much fun playing with this one… his high pain tolerance, stubbornness and pride had provided much entertainment. He stopped directly in front of his victim using his powers to gently probe his mind. His work was proving successful, the god's unusually strong mental barriers were cracked and crumbling under the intense strain.

"Loki Laufeyson." His voice was warm and smooth, a stark contrast to his cold eyes. The Elthen placed a long finger under Loki's chin, forcing his head up. Loki struggled to keep the smile on his face as tendrils of the Elthan's power stabbed into his skin. It was agonizing, like being stabbed with a burning hot knife a thousand times over. He tried to focus on the Elthen as the pain blurred his vision.

"The helpless, weak, unwanted prince of the Jotunhiem." The Elthen increased the intensity of his power, feeling the god's mental barriers crumbling. Loki's green eyes turned to red and his skin faded to blue. The Elthens power flowed through his veins, the red glow feeling like poison. Loki's breaths came in quick, ragged gasps as he desperately fought back the pain.

He forced a smile "Even Thor can do more damage… than this…if Asgard is so…weak… What does that make you?" He panted, trying to channel his anger to overcome the pain. The Elthen's smile widened and he released Loki from his paralysis and increased the strength of his power. Loki stiffened, his back arching off the wall and his fists clenched. The pain was excruciating, a thin line of blood trickled down his chin where he had bitten through his lip in an attempt to hold back the scream. The pain was a hundred times worse than being hit by Thor's lightening… and Loki could tell you that hurt like a bitch. A small part of him smiled internally as his mind supplied him with the Midgardian phrase he had picked up during his brief attempt to rule the realm. He grasped at that part of him and used it to force the smile back on his face. This pathetic creature would not break him. He was a prince, destined to be a king.

He couldn't use his magic, every time he attempted to it was like an explosion in his head. Dried blood crusted on his ears gave testament to the last time he had attempted to use his power. He just had to withstand the pain, he focused on trying to distance himself from the pain. It was proving to be difficult, more so than usual. He supposed it had something to do with the Elthen's power. His red eyes narrowed as he became aware the Ethen was speaking again. "…little prince." The Elthen was looking at him with an expectant smirk. Loki noticed through the fog of pain that the Elthen was glowing red, tendrils of his power gathering into an ever-growing ball. "You have such a beautiful voice-"

Even through the pain, Loki raised an eyebrow as he interrupted the Elthen "I know." He said smugly, his forced smile spreading into a smirk. The Elthen blinked, hallway through his sentence. For the first time since he had been torturing Loki, he looked surprised and even uncertain. He had obviously not expected the response. Loki chuckled and then clenched his teeth as the pain increased. The Elthen's eyes were black, furious. He gave a low dangerous laugh "Oh so the little god laughs. How lovely. Let's see how beautiful your screams will be." He flicked the glowing ball towards Loki. The instant it touched him, Loki's mind went blank. He screamed in agony as the Elthen's power absorbed into his body. It felt like he was being torn apart and put back together only for the process to be repeated over and over and over again.

The Elthen watched the fallen god writhing in agony, his screams were like music in his ears. A genuine smile of sheer happiness and satisfaction spread across his face, a smile that was reflected in his eyes. "Hmm… I thought warriors of Asgard were supposed to be strong and brave. It's rather obvious you are not of Asgard, though I would have thought you might have picked up some of their traits." The Elthen sighed and bent, patting the screaming god on his arm with fake sympathy. "No wonder you were such a disappointment to everyone, so weak and pathetic, so small. You'd never be able to fit in anywhere, never be able to belong, never be worth anything or even worthy of love. Never find people who cared about you. It's sad really. You never stood a chance. You could never be anything but an annoyance at best. No wonder no one paid you any notice next to Thor. Even your mother preferred him over you, though I suppose he was her child and you weren't."

The Elthen smirked, with the Jotun's mind being overwhelmed by the pain and his powers restrained, he was weak to his probing. He now had full access to the god's memory. He hummed a disjointed tune whilst copying all the data into a device he held in his hand. With a satisfied smile he leaned back, extraction complete. He could sell this information for a very high price. He stood placing the device back into his robes, his mind racing with thoughts of all the people he could sell this or at least parts of this information too.

He turned back to the writhing god, "Well little prince I apologize. I was wrong, you could be useful. I'll make a large amount from all this. Of course I don't want any other collectors taking off with your valuable memories so I'll be deleting them." The Elthen smirked. "But I'll leave you a little something to remember me by." The red glow brightened momentarily before vanishing. Loki's eyes shifted back to green, his blue skin slowly transforming back to his usual pale tone. "There we go. You should thank me, all those painful memories, all those nightmares, all those lonely days. I've removed them all. Of course you don't remember anything now…" he shrugged a little "well nothing except pain, fear and the colour red. But they aren't really memories…more… emotions shall we say." The Elthen looked down at the shaking, gasping figure and smiled. "Goodbye my little prince." He turned and left the old castle, boarded his ship and left the planet and the fallen prince.


End file.
